Fluid mixing device



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INVENTOR E/z'e I? Ay/m/a/es BY 47m 4. AZ QQ ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,232,541 FLUID MIXING DEVICE Elie P, Aghnides, 46 W. 54th St, New York, N.Y. Filed Jan. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 84,616 2 Claims. (Cl. 239-427) This invention relates to gas and fluid mixing devices and more particularly to improved devices for producing a stream of liquid contaning air bubbles throughout the stream. A device constructed in accordance with this invention, when applied to the outlet of a conventional water faucet, provides a bubbly stream which is soft and light to the touch and which possesses numerous advantages not present in a plain water jet or in a sprayed water jet.

The present invention is an improvement upon the devices shown in my Patents 2,210,846, dated August 6, 1940, 2,316,832, dated April 20, 1943, and 2,633,343, dated March 31, 1953, and this aplication is a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Serial No. 351,907, filed April 29, 1953, now abandoned, entitled, Fluid Mixing Device which in turn was a continuation-in-part of my prior application Serial No. 88,797, filed April 21, 1949, now U.S. Patent No. 2,664,278, entitled, Fluid Mixing Device, and which was also a continuation-in-part of my prior copending application Serial No, 135,645, filed December 29, 1949, now U.S. Patent No. 2,811,340, entitled Fluid Mixing Device.

In my prior U.S. Patent No. 2,998,927, of September 5, 1961, entitled, Fluid Mixing Device, I have disclosed an aerator wherein air enters at the water outlet end of the aerator. In some forms of that invention I have disclosed a sleeve located within the casing to define an annular air intake passage just inside of the casing. An important object of this invention is to provide an improved arrangement and mode of support for said sleeve.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide an improved unit for mixing air with liquid to produce a bubbly stream.

It is another object of this invention to provide a simple and economical mixing device having a minimum number of parts and a device replaceable at low cost.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mixing device which consists of a single molded body member adapted to hold jet-forming and mixing members in proper position therein.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mixing device having a one-piece body member which may be molded from resilient material in a single molding operation.

It is another object of this invention to provide a device having a one-piece resilient body member provided with air inlet passages adjacent the periphery of a mixing member held by said resilient body member.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical sectional view partly cut away of one form of my fluid mixing device;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view partly cut away of another embodiment of the fluid mixing device of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view partly cut away of a further embodiment of this invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 66 of FIGURE 5.

Referring to the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the neck portion 20 is provided with a plurality of orifices 41 and only a single perforated disc 42 is positioned on the annular shoulder 43. The orifices 41 and the disc 4-2 are the jet-forming means. The mixing means comprises a plurality of perforate discs or screens 44 held within a metal rim 45 having a tapered up stream end flange 46 and a tapered downstream end flange 47. The rim 45 is held in the discharge end of the member 15 by spaced ribs 48 projecting inward from the inner surface of the member. The spaces 49 between the ribs 48 constitute air inlet passages to admit air to the space between the jet-forming disc 42 and the upper end of the mixing screen unit. In FIGURE 1 the air inlet passages are grooves or channels around the edge of the mixing means unit.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4 is generally similar to those described hereinbefore, but includes a modified holder for the mixing screens 50. The screen holder 51 is preferably formed of hard plastic and is provided with a plurality of air inlet grooves 52 in its peripheral portion 53. The body member 15 is formed with an annular groove 54 to accommodate the peripheral portion 53 of the screen holder. A space 55 is provided between the top of the periphery 53 of the screen holder and the body member 15 to provide for admission of air to the space between the jet-form ing disc 42 and the mixing screens 50. The holder 51 may be made from a colored plastic contrasting the color of the resilient body member 15, or may be formed from metal.

The modification shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 provides for the jet-forming means and the mixing means being in a single unit insertable in the one-piece resilient body member 15 in one operation. Said means could, however, be two separate units insertable in the same groove, as shown. The jet-forming means is a perforated disc or diaphragm engaging the flange 76 on the upper end of an annular inner member such as sleeve 77. The sleeve 77 holds Within its lower portion the mixing screen 73, preferably three in number and preferably spaced from one another by any suitable construction, and held in place by the ring 81. The upper portion of the sleeve 77 is provided with an annular series of apertures 79 which admit air from the annular space 38 between the body member 15 and the sleeve 77.

In the gas and fluid mixing devices shown and described herein, the body member 15 is preferably molded in one piece of a resilient material such as rubber. The shape of the body member in each instance is such that it can be molded by a single molding operation, and it does not require subsequent drilling or punching operations since the air inlet passages or channels are designed to be easily produced by a simple mold. The devices shown obviate the need of closely machined parts or friction fits since the resilient material of the body member easily holds the jet-forming and the mixing means in proper relation. The devices are economical to produce and are easily assembled by low cost labor. The one-piece body construction also avoids the falling or blowing apart of mixing devices having multipart molded bodies. The one-piece bod-y member discourages the user from disassembling the device and reassembling the parts improperly. Mixing devices made in accordance with this invention will remain in proper working order until replacement by a complete new unit is required.

This invention includes such variations and modifications in the embodiments illustrated and described as may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for producing a stream of liquid containing air bubbles throughout the discharging stream, comprising in combination: a unitary resilient body member of elastic material for attachment to the discharge end of a conduit adapted to deliver liquid under pressure, said body member defining a chamber having an outlet at the downstream end of said chamber, jet-forming means including a perforate disc positioned in said chamber and held by said elastic body member, and mixing means including a plurality of perforate screens and an annular rim member holding said screens as a unit, said mixing means being positioned and spaced in said chamber downstream from said perforate disc and held by said elastic body member, said body member and said rim member cooperatively defining a plurality of air inlet passages extending to said chamber for conducting air into the space between said jet-forming means and said mixing means, said annular rim member having an outwardly extending peripheral portion upstream from its downstream end, and an annular groove around the inner wall of said body member for receiving said peripheral portion, whereby said elastic body portion may be deformed to admit said mixing means which is thereafter supported substantially entirely in said groove to thereby maximize the area of said air inlet passages.

2. A device for producing a stream of liquid containing air bubbles throughout the discharging stream, comprising in combination a unitary strong body member constructed to be firmly attached to the discharge end of a conduit adapted to deliver liquid under pressure, a thin annular inner member of smaller diameter than said body member, means supporting said annular inner member within said body member so that it depends downstream within said body member to form both a mixing chamber within said annular member and an air channel between said body member and the outer wall be mixed with and entrained in the liquid, jet forming 7 means carried by said unitary body member, mixing means positioned within said annular inner member and downstream from said jet forming means to receive a liquid jet produced by said jet forming means and to mix the liquid with ambient air drawn from said air channel to produce a coherent discharge stream of aerated liquid laden with numerous small bubbles, said means supporting said annular inner member being constructed to transmit the stress resulting from attaching the assembled device firmly to the discharge end of a conduit directly to said strong body member and to leave the depending channel and chamber forming part of said thin weaker annular inner member and said mixing means substantially free from assembly stress, said annular inner member comprising a sleeve, said means supporting said annular inner member comprising an internal ledge in said unitary body member and a projecting part of said sleeve at its upstream end constructed to rest on said ledge, said jet forming means comprising a perforated disc resting on said projecting part of said sleeve and upstream thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,316,135 4/1943 Turek et a1. 2,316,832 4/ 1943 Aghnides. 2,541,854 2/1951 Bachli et al. 2,664,278 12/1953 Aghnides. 2,849,217 8/1958 Bachli et al. 2,998,927 9/1961 Aghnides.

EVERETT W. KIRBY, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT A. OLEARY, RAPHAEL M. LUPO,

Examiners. 

1. A DEVICE FOR PRODUCING A STREAM OF LIQUID CONTAINING AIR BUBBLES THROUGHOUT THE DISCHARGING STREAM, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: A UNITARY RESILIENT BODY MEMBER OF ELASTIC MATERIAL FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE DISCHARGE END OF A CONDUIT ADAPTED TO DELIVER LIQUID UNDER PRESSURE SAID BODY MEMBER DEFINING A CHAMBER HAVING AN OUTLET AT THE DOWNSTREAM END OF SAID CHAMBER, JET-FORMING MEANS INCLUDING A PERFORATE DISC POSITIONED IN SAID CHAMBER AND HELD BY SAID ELASTIC BODY MEMBER, AND MIXING MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF PERFORATE SCREENS AND AN ANNULAR RIM MEMBER HOLDING SAID SCREENS AS A UNIT, SAID MIXING MEANS BEING POSITIONED AND SPACED IN SAID CHAMBER DOWNSTREAM FROM SAID PERFORATE DISC AND HELD BY SAID ELASTIC BODY MEMBER, SAID BODY MEMBER AND SAID RIM MEMBER COOPERATIVELY DEFINING A PLURALITY OF AIR INLET PASSAGES EXTENDING TO SAID CHAMBER FOR CONDUCTING AIR INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID JET-FORMING MEANS AND SAID MIXING MEANS, SAID ANNULAR RIM MEMBER HAVING AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PERIPHERAL PORTION UPSTREAM FROM ITS DOWNSTREAM END, AND AN ANNULAR GROOVE AROUND THE INNER WALL OF SAID BODY MEMBER FOR RECEIVING SAID PERIPHERAL PORTION, WHEREBY SAID ELASTIC BODY PORTION MAY BE DEFORMED TO ADMIT SAID MIXING MEANS WHICH IS THEREAFTER SUPPORTED SUBSTANTIALLY ENTIRELY IN SAID GROOVE TO THEREBY MAXIMIZE THE AREA OF SAID AIR INLET PASSAGES. 